Let the Games Begin: Rowan
by KaiSai1166
Summary: When best friends Rowan Willows and Alex Hunt, poor seam girls are selected as the female tributes in the 75th anual Hunger Games, they know their lives will never be the same if they make it out. But to their surprise they discover that they are powerful half bloods and may even have feelings for two other half bloods Peeta and Percy. Not great at summary's. Sadie's story!
1. Waiting

Chapter one: Waiting

I sat at my desk waiting for Alex to show up. I bounced my leg on the floor worried. What if her dad did something? Was she all right? Since Alex's mom died her dad had pretty much cared about one thing, alcohol. I stared at the clock as the minute hand ticked past. The bell was about to go off and as soon as it rung the first time Alex ran into the class room and flung herself into her seat.

"Alex what happened? Why are you late?" I asked leaning forward.

"Nothin', I just forgot to get up…" She sounded slightly annoyed. I ignored it and smirked.

"Ok, just wanted to make sure sis." I leaned back into my seat as our teacher walked in and tried to prepare the lesson for today.

"Yeah, yeah. Hey do you want to go hunt later? I need to get some food in case I get picked." Alex said her voice dropping into a whisper. The reality of what today was came crashing down onto me. Tomorrow was the reaping, where one boy and one girl from each of our 'lovely' districts would be picked to go to the Hunger Games and be slaughtered in front of Panem.

"That's not gonna happen so stop worrying." I said trying to hide the worry in my own voice. I mentally counted how many entries me and Alex had.

"You don't know that, stop trying to calm me down because I might get picked. Speaking of which, I have to talk to Mason about taking Nikki if I get picked to go." She said rubbing a hand across her forehead.

"Okay, I was just trying to help." I mumbled. I fixed my eyes on the door when the person I had been dreading walked in. Ricky Mitch strode into the room acting like he was king of the world. He locked eyes with me and I quickly dropped my gaze to my worn out skin boots. I didn't understand why he took such pleasure in tormenting me. I was just a poor seam girl who was dropped off here by her parents and was hardly getting by. Ever since we were little he was always picking on me, making fun of my hair, my drab clothes filled with holes, or my constant want to be outside. If there was something he could use against me he did. Once we hit fourth grade though, he got swapped and had no classes with me sparing me from his torment. But when we made it to high school he was back in my classes and seemed to have a more than unhealthy fixation with the teenage girl he had made fun of. He had already dated almost every girl in the school and now it seemed like I was next on his list. His attention only grew stronger when I died the blue into my bangs and highlights. I shook my head and buried my face into my notebook keeping Ricky from my mind. I stared at my ever growing doodles and added another one to the edge of the page. I continued doodling till our class was over and the bell rung. I gladly moved from my seat and watched Alex bolt out the door to her next class. I slid out from behind my desk and jammed my notebook into my worn out backpack and walked to the door. I could feel Ricky's gaze boring into my back but I ignored it and slipped away silently into the crowd of people in the hallway. "Rowan!" I turned at the sound of my name at saw one of the girls who lived at the orphanage with me. "Mrs. Shiller says that you need to get your own food today because you've been defying her recently!" With that she walked away. I sighed. Yes I lived at the orphanage but that didn't mean I had people waiting on me and taking care of me. I've had to fend for myself my whole life. I hunted for myself, I found clothes for myself, I did everything for myself. I didn't understand what Mrs. Shiller meant by defying, I hardly even spoke to her! I slid into my next class and stared at the blackboard. I noticed someone looking at me and I looked up into two shining green eyes. I blinked a couple times and noticed the person wave. It was Percy Jackson. I waved back slightly and then focused back on Manth. Time to fail.

I watch Alex walk over to Mason and his group of friends, which included Gale. He was like my big brother, one of the few people who cared about me. So far that list had reached three. Gale, Alex, and her younger brother Nikki. Everyone left Alex and Mason alone and I felt someone approach me and my shoulders tensed.

"Hey baby sister." Gale said using his stupid nickname for me, but I couldn't help but smile.

"Gale!' I said happily spinning around. "Did you get off work early?" I asked hugging him.

"No. I just got some break time; I said there was a family emergency." He shrugged. I thought of his brothers and sister and of his mother.

"What's wrong? They all seemed fine the other day." I said concerned.

"Yeah, but my baby sister is in the reaping and keeps taking tesserae even though I tell her she can feed herself." He said referring to me. I rolled my eyes, he always made a big fuss of this stupid thing. He checked his watch. "Whoops gotta go, bye." He planted a small kiss on the top of my head then dashed off leaving me with the smell of coal. I watch as he walks away and from the corner of my eye I see Percy Jackson walk out from the school. He looks over at me again and then Ricky walks up to him. His shoulders tense up and he squeezes his books. Oh no, why would he go talk to him and not just torture me? I could see Ricky start to yell at him and Percy yelled back in his face. Then Ricky shoved him and Percy fell to the ground. Ricky just smirked and walked away. Yes Percy helped me but that didn't mean he needed Ricky's hate. Ricky's figth was with me about what happened.

"Hiya Rowan, what's taking you so long?" Alex asked snapping me out of my own head.

"Hunh? Oh nothing just thinking about what homework I have." I say turning to her. "Did you talk to Mason?" I ask. She nods.

"Yeah everything is set and ready to go." She seemed a little happier than this morning and that made me smile at her.

"Well, that's go-" I stopped mid sentence as my worst night mare strode over to me.

"What is it?" Alex looks up and answers her own question.

"Hey cuties, Ricky needs to talk to Ms. Rowan." He said shooting me a look that I can only imagine was an attempt to woo me. I rolled my eyes and shook my head slightly. His red hair was somewhat messy and his brown eyes drilled holes into my face.

"Um no thank. Now if you'll excuse us your boulder of a body is blocking our way." Alex said taking my arm in her hand and began to walk around Ricky. Before I could cheer that we had gotten away or comprehend what was happening Ricky had torn me away from Alex and crashed his lips down onto mine. My eyes fly open wide as I shove at him and try to turn my head away. I pushed hard against his chest but he already knew my tricks and secured both my wrists in his large hand crushing my arms together in the process. Suddenly Ricky's head was ripped backwards and Alex punched him in the jaw. I fell backwards onto the ground as I rubbed my jaw after the assault. I stand up as Ricky tried to grab Alex but she kicked him in the stomach causing him to double over in pain. She walked away quickly and I ran to catch up with her.

"What the heck was that?! You're going to get expelled! You can't just beat up jerks on school ground!" I shouted at her.

"What happens, happens. Just because his dad owns the bank doesn't mean he can abuse my sister." Alex said casually. "He might be an entitled brat at home but that doesn't fly with me." I just shook my head in disbelief with my teal eyes opened wide. Alex laughed and I couldn't help but join her quickly. When we get to Nikki's class he's standing with his arms folded, a disappointed look on his face.

"Where were you?" He asks unfolding his arms.

"We ran into a couple bumps. But we're here now." Alex says simply. She grabs his arm playfully and smiles. As we start the trek to Alex's house she trips and her books go crashing to the ground. I would try to help her but if I did there would be two stacks of books on the ground. "Guys just go, I'll catch up with you." I nod and start to walk away with Nikki but then I see a guy with blond hair, a shade or two lighter than hers, and light blue eyes walking over to her. He bends down and helps Alex with her books. I cock my head to the side and realize who's helping her. The baker's kid, Peeta. I smirk back in her direction.

"Um, here you go. I'm Peeta, Alex right?" He asks standing. Alex shifts her weight from foot to foot and she averts her eyes from Peeta's ice blue stare.

"Uh yeah, thanks for helping me." She says simply and begins to walk away as me and Nikki follow closely behind.

"So uh, what are you doing this afternoon?" Peeta asks matching her pace, I smirk. Did she understand what was happening here? I finally get near the gate with Nikki and watch as they begin to walk over to us. I smirk over at her and she looks like she wants to kill me. Then someone stops in front of them I groan, really again? Not only was Ricky a jerk, he was obviously too stupid to learn a lesson, and this time he brought his two idiots along with him.

"Stay here." I say to Nikki. I walk closer to them but stay to the right and in the background, I don't need to be assaulted again. Ricky's jaw is purple and Carter winks at Alex. He has a thing for her. Colt just stood there staring, he looked almost bored.

"Ricky you look nice, the purple really complements your eyes." Alex said faking sweetness. I covered my mouth trying not to laugh out loud. I see Peeta hold an arm in front of Alex and then step partially in front of her. What was he doing?

"You're not getting away with this. Just wait till I'm done with you, you think you don't have a good reputation now? Just wait. You and your pretty face are going to pay!" He bellows at her.

"Aw, you think I'm pretty? Because of that sweet little compliment I guess I should tell you your jaw is just going to get worse." I could barley hold in my laughs.

"That's it!" Ricky charged at Alex but Peeta stepped between them and held his arms out.

"Okay let's take this down a-" Peeta's words were cut off by Ricky smacks him dead in the face.

"Not in the mood lover boy!" He hisses. Oh great here we go. Peeta's face turns red and he looks ready to strangle someone. Alex punches Ricky in the jaw again and he tumbles to the ground. Colt starts running towards Alex, he's going to wish he didn't do that. I feel some instinct kick in and I run to Alex and swing on Colt connecting my fist into his collar bone. He cries out and as he stumbles backwards I asses him. He seemed to be babying his left leg, and his ankle looked a bit swollen. He must've twisted it. Colt rushes at me again and swings but I pound my foot into his lower spine. He face first onto the ground and when he stands up his lip is cut and bleeding.

"Your just a little girl!" He screams running at me again, I duck under his fist and punch him in his right shoulder blade. He screeches, half with pain and half with frustration.

"You're the one that sounds like a girl." I said. I kicked his left ankle and he goes crashing to the ground. I jump on top of him and push my knee into his rib cage and pull up my fist. "Give me one reason not to punch you right now." I growl at him. Instead he just sneers at me.

"Ricky always gets his way and if he wants you he'll get you. That Jackson kid can't save you every time." With that I slam my fist down into his face and jump off of him.

"We need to get him back to the house so I can take care of this. Well so you can take care of this Rowan." I hear Alex say. I turn and face her and Peeta. His jaw is begging to turn purple from a bruise and his lip is busted and blood is running down his chin. "Yeah I'll fix him up quick." I said. "Let's go."


	2. Mental Mapping

Hey guys! Sadies here with another chapter of my version of let the games begin. This chapter gives a little more insight into where Rowan lives and her life at the orphanage. I hope you like it!

Chapter two: Mental Mapping

When we got back to Alex's house I kicked the door open and glanced around. Me and Alex sighed simultaneously, her dad wasn't home to cause a scene. Peeta sat down in a chair near the kitchen table and I began to get stuff out. I grabbed a bottle of antiseptic, a cotton swab, and a couple of paper towels. I dug out some ice and wrapped it in the towel. I pressed it to Peeta's jaw.

"Hold that." I said. He obeyed and I walked back and grabbed the brown bottle and cotton swabs and took my usual perch on the kitchen table. I twisted the cap off the bottle and swirled one of the cotton swabs around in the liquid. I pressed it to Peeta's lip and he grimaced. "Sorry, but it needs cleaned." He nodded and sucked in a deep breath as I wiped the liquid across the cut. I then noticed a small cut running through his eyebrow and cleaned that out as well. When I was finished I tossed the swab into the trash and closed the bottle.

"I'm sorry you got hurt, but you shouldn't have got involved." Alex folded her arms against her stomach. "He's a jerk and he'll do anything to stay that way."

"That's okay, it'll make me look manlier." Peeta laughs, I smiled too but Alex didn't seem to find Peeta's joke funny. My smile quickly fades as I climb down off the table.

"yeah whatever. You're late for your shift at the bakery right? I'll see you tomorrow at the reaping." Alex says not looking at him.

"Yeah your right." He looks at me. "Thanks for helping me out." Then he turned back to Alex. "See you then." He says sweetly. He walks to the door and then turns to say something else but then shakes his head and closes his mouth as he walks out the door. Alex looks at me and Nikki and sees the grins on our faces. She rolls her eyes.

"Well looks like someone made a new friend." I say, she glares at me.

"Can I go to Mason's house?" Nikki asks. Alex nods and he dashes out the door and we start cleaning up before her dad gets home. Alex looks up at me to see I'm still smiling, she shoots me another death glare.

"Don't. I know what you're think so just DON'T." She says firmly. Oh but I have to.

"Why what ever are you talking about? Are you talking about the handsome merchant boy who was pretty much flirting with you? Or maybe the fact that you might have liked it? If not then I have no idea what you're getting at dear sister." I say in an sugar sweet voice.

"Just help me clean." She grumbles. After we're don ewe head over to Mason's and spend the rest of the day chatting.

"You do know he likes you right?" I ask Alex after we finished putting Nikki to bed. She sat down at the dinner table with me.

"Ok whatever." She says sarcastically.

"He does, you can tell when he looks at you. Plus he took that hit from Ricky for you." I say leaning forward.

"Okay, whatever you say." Alex rolled her eyes. I sighed and shook my head. "Anyways, what's up with you and Ricky anyway?" Alex said quickly changing to a more hated subject.

"Oh, um… N-nothing… it doesn't matter. Where's your dad anyways?" I said rubbing my arm. It was still sore from what happened.

"Rowan, stop trying to change the subject. I know he wouldn't have tried to kiss you if something hadn't already happened. Did you go out with him or something?"

"NO! I would never, ever, date that jerk." I said slowly. I sighed, she wasn't going to let me get away without answering her question. "Alright, well remember that one day I had to stay late from school?" She nodded and folded her arms. "Well when I was done and was about to leave Ricky came up to me and said that he really liked me, and that we were soul mates and we had to be together because we were and I quote 'Both to great for anyone else' and all that crap. And when I said that I didn't feel the same way he grabbed my arm really tightly and tried to kiss me. I punched him and tried to get away but he grabbed my shirt and pulled me back. I kept p-pushing him and hitting him but he's a lot bigger than me. I m-mean he's a senior." I said a lump growing in my throat. My eyes had started to well up with tears as I recounted my horrible experience. "He grabbed my right arm and squeezed really tightly, and it hurt really bad, h-he gave me this." I showed Alex the large, hand shaped bruise under my long sleeved shirt. "And you know that kid Percy? Well he was still there and saw what was happening and he came over and hit Ricky in the back of the head and then helped me get away." Tears had started to roll down my cheeks. "The only reason I didn't tell you was because I thought you'd freak out and do something like you did today." I said choking out a sob. Alex looked stunned. She slid her chair closer and wrapped her arms around me in a hug. I buried my face into her shoulder as my sobs faded away. She opened her mouth to say something when the door was flung open and Alex's father stumbled into the house.

"Why… Aren't… You… In…" Before he could finish he vomited up what he had been drinking onto the floor. He collapsed onto the floor by the door, his eyes slits as he stared at us.

"Dad, just, go lie on the couch and I'll get you some clothes… and clean this up." Alex raked a hand through her hair and grabbed a towel.

"Humfurma…." He mumbled from the couch. I got some clothes out for her dad as Alex began to mop up the vomit. I placed the clothes on the arm of the couch and grabbed a bucket. I filled it with soap and water. I began to help Alex mop up the floor as her dad moaned from the couch.

"What was all that noise?" Nikki asked walking out of his room. He looks at his father flailed out on the couch. "Oh." He turned around and walked back into his room. This had happened enough that Nikki knew if I was here late and we were cleaning up after her father, their dad was having an 'issue'. After me and Alex finished cleaning up after her dad, he passed out on the couch and began snoring.

"Uh, thanks for the help. I'm sorry you had to see that." Alex said walking me to the door.

"Anytime." I say nonchalantly. "Wanna go hunting tomorrow since we didn't get to go today?" I asked.

"Yeah sure, I just will have to drop Nikki off at Mason's but that would be great." Alex said yawning.

"Ok, well see you tomorrow." I said walking out the door and down the street. I shoved my hands into my backs pockets as I slowly walked down the abandoned street to the orphanage. I looked around as I passed the few, dirty stores that we had. I walked past the darkened bakery but stopped as I strode in front of the candy store. The lights were still on but I couldn't see anyone inside. Suddenly Percy appeared from the back room and began sweeping the floor. He glanced up and saw me standing there looking like an idiot and waved. I blinked rapidly and shyly waved back, my face turning scarlet. I quickly turned and walked away. What was wrong with me? I didn't blush! The only time I did was one time in third grade when the stupid ladies who ran the orphanage decided to put me in a dress for the first day of school and Ricky pushed me over causing my skirt to fly over my head. I shook my head as I pulled my key out of my pocket and stuck it in the lock.

"Where have you been?!" Someone yelled at me. I groaned. Today was the anniversary of Mrs. Shiller's husband's death. She always had a little too much scotch and decided she cared if I was home late and breaking the 'curfew' that didn't exist. You might think I was being mean since her husband died. Well maybe you'll reconsider if you knew that I get screamed and yelled at almost twenty four hours a day and when kind Mr. Shiller was alive his wife seemed to be with a new man every week. I turned on the demented and not quite sober woman.

"I was helping my friend. The reaping is tomorrow and she's pretty stressed." I said stuffing my key back into my jeans.

"Does it look like I care what tomorrow is?" She said leaning forward unsteadily. "Your supposed to be in bed you little brat. I bet this is why your parent's gave you up." She said, when she was drunk she felt more free to tell you what she thought instead of whispering behind your back.  
"Shut. Up." I said through gritted teeth.

"What did you just say?" She sneered at me.

"I said SHUT UP! You don't know anything about my parents! SHUT UP YOU IDIOT! I don't need to take your crap just 'cause you can't deal with your husband's death!" I screamed at her. My hands were waded into fists at my sides to keep me from hitting her. She strode across the room quicker than I thought possible and slapped me. She caught me off guard and I stepped back trying to catch my balance. She grabbed my wrist, digging her vulture-like nails into my flesh. She dragged me up the stairs and shoved me into my room. She slammed the door shut and locked the door. I slammed my fists into the door. I heard Ms. Lawrence come up to the stairs and approach Mrs. Shiller.

"Mary are you all right?" Ms. Lawrence asked, Mrs. Shiller instantly composed herself.

"Oh yes, Margaret I don't know what we're going to do with her." Mrs. Shiller sounded exasperated. I shook my head and kept myself from hitting my door again. Why was she annoyed? She was the one tormenting me.

"You mean Rowan?"

"Yes. Margaret, she breaks all of my rules and treats me with the utmost disrespect." I couldn't believe this. Why was she telling her this? I wasn't around her enough to disrespect her and as for rules, she had none!

"Well, you know we could put her into the foster care system." Ms. Lawrence suggested. I actually perked up at the idea. Maybe I could go live with Alex; I could help her with Nikki and with her dad and it would be like we were family.

"You know we can't do that!" Mrs. Shiller said crushing my hope. "If she won't obey me and respect me, how will she be for a family? She's a problem that I don't want to burden anyone with. We might have to transfer her. Maybe to district one? They would whip her into shape." I felt like I had been shot with one of my own arrows. They were going to ship me away? Away from Alex? From Gale? From the only place I had ever called home?

"Oh Mary we shouldn't do that!" Ms. Lawrence said.

"Maybe it was rash, but we could still keep it in consideration." Mrs. Shiller said. The conversation ended at that. I turned around and slid down my door my legs unable to support my wavering body. They couldn't send me away. They couldn't! I pulled my knees up to my chest and tried to map out situations in my head. Gale told me that thinking ahead can help you stay calm in tough situations, he thought he was just helping me with my anger not keeping me from having a nervous breakdown on my bedroom floor. I pressed my shaking hands together. If they sent me to district one I would be turned into a tough killing machine with no love or compassion for anyone, or I would be chewed up and spit out by the other kids. If they sent me into foster care I could end up living with Alex, or I could end up with a family like Ricky's, maybe Ricky's family. I shuddered at the thought. If Mrs. Shiller woke up hung over the next morning, inevitable, and didn't remember what she said or decided against it then I would stay here and everything would be just like it is. But if my name was called in the reaping tomorrow I would be sent to the Capitol, scrubbed, polished, and turned into a Barbie doll for everyone to see. I groaned and shoved my face into my cold hands. I stood up and tried to push all of the maps from my mind. I quickly undressed and left my clothes on the floor as I slid into my pajamas and crawled into bed. I pulled the blankets up around my face and made a new map. What if Alex or Nikki gets picked? This thought terrified me and had been circling through my mind all day. I tried to figure out how I would react. I had finally come up with a resolution. She had people she needed to take care of and she would be dearly missed if she was gone. Nikki was too young and was dear to me, I wouldn't let him go. If either of there names were read by Effie Trinket tomorrow, I would volunteer as district twelve's tribute for the Hunger Games.


End file.
